Butterflies and Ducks

Just in time for science class, a beautiful swallowtail butterfly found some sedum in our back yard and patiently posed while I brought the camera nearer and nearer.
I wanted to get a great profile shot to show the Engineer how the butterfly uses its proboscis to sip the nectar from the blooms. I'm hoping my photos are sufficient for comparing to photos in the field guide so we can identify which kind of butterfly this is.
Yesterday we took a picnic outdoors and went for a walk in the metroparks, the emerald necklace that encircles greater Cleveland. While walking in the woods I asked the Engineer to name for me some animals that live in the woods. He rattled off quite a few. When his list ended I pressed him for more a few times. During this stretching and thinking he suggested ducks live in the woods.

That is not the typical woodland creature I think of, but Rick and I agreed ducks could live in these woods as there are creeks and rivers through out the metroparks. In fact, the engineer has seen the water foul crossing sign on the road every time we drive to grandma's house.

Sure enough, during that walk, we saw loads of squirrels and chipmunks and also passed one spot in a stream that was home to a large number of ducks. We counted about 24 birds. We heard several song birds, but they stayed hidden from us.

Rick and I took the kids down to the water's edge a few times and we skipped stones over the surface. To the kids, stone-skipping novices, this was great fun.